VOCABULARYEVOLUTION

GENETIC DRIFT

•RANDOM CHANGE IN ALLELE FREQUENCIES THAT OCCURS IN SMALL POPULATIONS

VESTIGIAL ORGAN

•ORGAN THAT SERVES NO USEFUL FUNCTION IN AN ORGANISM

EVOLUTION

•PROCESS BY WHICH MODERN ORGANISMS DESCENDED FROM ANCIENT ORGANISMS

COMMON DESCENT

•PRINCIPLE THAT ALL LIVING THINGS HAVE A COMMON ANCESTOR

THEORY

•A WELL-TESTED EXPLANATION THAT UNIFIES A BROAD RANGE OF OBSERVATIONS

GENETIC EQUILIBRIUM

•SITUATION IN WHICH ALLELE FREQUENCIES REMAIN CONSTANT

MASS EXTINCTION

•EVENT IN WHICH MANY TYPES OF LIVING THINGS BECOME EXTINCT AT THE SAME TIME

MACROEVOLUTION

•LARGE-SCALE EVOLUTIONARY CHANGES THAT TAKE PLACE OVER LONG PERIODS OF TIME

COEVOLUTION

•PROCESS BY WHICH TWO SPECIES EVOLVE IN REPONSE TO CHANGES IN EACH OTHER

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

•PROCESS BY WHICH INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE BETTER SUITED TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT SURVIVE AND REPRODUCE MOST SUCCESSFULLY

RELATIVE FREQUENCY

•NUMBER OF TIMES AN ALLELE OCCURS IN A GENE POOL COMPARED WITH THE NUMBER OF TIMES OTHER ALLELES OCCUR.

NATURAL SELECTION

•PROCESS BY WHICH INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE BETTER SUITED TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT SURVIVE AND REPRODUCE MOST SUCCESSFULLY

FITNESS

•ABILITY OF AN ORGANISM TO SURVIVE AND REPRODUCE IN ITS ENVIRONMENT

FOUNDER EFFECT

•CHANGE IN ALLELE FREQUENCIES AS A RESULT OF THE MIGRATION OF A SMALL SUBGROUP OF A POPULATION

DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION

•PRINCIPLE THAT EACH LIVING SPECIES HAS DESCENDED, WITH CHANGES, FROM OTHER SPECIES OVER TIME

HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES

•STRUCTURES THAT HAVE DIFFERENT MATURE FORMS IN DIFFERENT ORGANISMS BUT DEVELOP FROM THE SAME EMBRYONIC TISSUES

RADIOACTIVE DATING

•TECHNIQUE IN WHICH SCIENTISTS CALCULATE THE AGE OF A SAMPLE BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF REMAINING RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES IT CONTAINS

MICROEVOLUTION

•EVOLUTION RESULTING FROM A SUCCESSION OF RELATIVELY SMALL GENETIC VARIATIONS THAT OFTEN CAUSE THE FORMATION OF NEW SUBSPECIES

HARDY-WEINBERG PRINCIPLE

•PRINCIPLES THAT ALLELE FREQUENCES IN A POPULATION WILL REMAIN CONSTANT UNLESS ONE OR MORE FACTORS CAUSE THE FREQUENCIES TO CHANGE

REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION

•SEPARATION OF SPECIES OR POPULATIONS SO THAT THEY CANNOT INTERBREED AND PRODUCE FERTILE OFFSPRING

CONVERGENT EVOLUTION

PROCESS BY WHICH UNRELATED ORGANISMS INDEPENDENTLY EVOLVE SIMILARITIES WHEN ADAPTING TO SIMILAR ENVIRONMENTS

ADAPTIVE RADIATION

•PROCESS BY WHICH A SINGLE SPECIES OR SMALL GROUP OF SPECIES EVOLVE INTO SEVERAL DIFFERENT FORMS THAT LIVE IN DIFFERENT WAYS

DIRECTIONAL SELECTION

•FORM OF NATURAL SELECTION IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS AT ONE END OF THE DISTRIBUTION CURVE HAVE HIGHER FITNESS THAN INDIVIDUALS IN THE MIDDLE OR OTHER END OF THE CURVE

DISRUPTIVE SELECTION

•FORM OF NATURAL SELECTION THAT OCCURS WHEN INDIVIDUALS AT THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF A DISTRIBUTION CURVE HAVE HIGHER FITNESS THAN INDIVIDUALS NEAR THE MIDDLE

PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM

•PATTERN OF EVOLUTION IN WHICH LONG STABLE PERIODS ARE INTERRUPTED BY BRIEF PERIODS OF MORE RAPID CHANGES

RELATIVE DATING

•METHOD OF DETERMINING THE AGE OF A FOSSIL BY COMPARING ITS PLACEMENT WITH THAT OF FOSSILS IN OTHER LAYERS OF ROCK

STABILIZING SELECTION

•FORM OF NATURAL SELECTION THAT OCCURS WHEN INDIVIDUALS NEAR THE CENTER OF A DISTRIBUTION CURVE HAVE HIGHER FITNESS THAN INDIVIDUALS AT EITHER END

GENE POOL

•COMBINED GENETIC INFORMATION OF ALL THE MEMBERS OF A PARTICULAR POPULATION

ADAPTATION

•INHERITED CHARACTERISTIC THAT INCREASES AN ORGANISM’S CHANCE OF SURVIVAL

JAMES HUTTON

•PROPOSED THAT LAYERS OF ROCK DEVELOPED OVER SLOW PERIODS OF TIME AND THAT SOME FORCES THAT MOVE THE ROCK COME FROM BENEATH THE EARTH’S SURFACE

JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK

•GAVE THE IDEA THAT WITH THE CERTAIN USE OR DISUSE OF ORGANS, ORGANISMS GAINED OR LOST CERTAIN TRAITS DURING THEIR LIFETIME AND THESE TRAITS WOULD BE PASSED ON TO THE OFFSPRING

CHARLES DARWIN

•DEVLOPED THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

THOMAS MALTHUS

•REASONED THAT IF THE HUMAN POPULATION CONTINUED TO GROW UNCHECKED SOONER OR LATER THE POPULATION WOULD RUN OUT OF FOOD AND SPACE

CHARLES LYELL

•SAW THE NEED TO EXPLAIN PAST EVENTS IN TERMS OF PROCESSES THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY OBSERVE, SINCE PROCESSES THAT SHAPED THE EARTH CONTINUE IN THE PRESENT DAY

ALFRED WALLACE

•ALSO STUDYING EVOLUTION AND ENCOURAGED DARWIN TO PUBLISH HIS FINDINGS